Really? You’re really at a place in which you can open up to a perhaps unfamiliar idea?
You’re sure? Alright…head on over here and watch the promo.
As mentioned in the end of the clip, more and more mindful couples are following this map and rejecting the old stories and images of fear.
I’m talking “Pass the Pigs.” Best game on the planet. Have you passed some pigs?
I’ll never forget evenings around the Nicewongers’ dining room table; all of us “camp folk” stuffed from Judy’s feast and Dick’s pork tenderloin grilled on the Weber. While we tried (successfully) to find room for Judy’s peanut butter pie, Dick would bring out the pigs. We leaned forward in our chairs, some even stood, as the electric charge of competition lit the room. It was on. Each of us with our own special technique–pig kisses, the wrist flip, Dick’s special cup toss, the hand roll–we passed pigs late into the NY night.
Don’t know about the pigs? Hang in here with me, it gets complicated. You have these two tiny pigs and you throw them. The positions in which they land give you points. The piggies touch and you lose it all. Toss a Double Leaning Jowler and you hit the jackpot. I told you it was complicated.
So the next time you’re planning a camping trip, pack the pigs. The next time you have some friends over, bring out the pigs and the peanut butter pie.
Pig out.
Ah but there was beauty today, too–sweet friends who joined me at the Enfamil Fair, ahem, I mean, Baby Fair. Kelly, Jenny, and Denise made the time pass quickly. Kelly’s sweet sleeping 30lb’er in the ring sling was excellent marketing! And Jenny kept changing carriers–she was like a runway model for babywearing. A lovely newborn nursery RN who took all my babywearing fliers to give to her moms and wished for slings at the hospital. And my amazing husband who took his daughter and his mom on a breakfast date to Panera, caulked the shower, washed my car, and watered my garden. But the highlight of the day–a family nap with daughter snuggled between us and the beginnings of rain watering my garden…again.
I was up all night so forgive the choppiness. I share this with permission from a new mama and daddy. They wanted to encourage someone else as other stories encouraged them.
I am honored to be the doula for an amazing couple. This pregnancy is their first. While taking a childbirth class (before even finishing the class), they met another expectant couple who didn’t speak English. My couple invited them into their home, taught them what they had learned, and the non-English speaking couple had a lovely natural birth. My couple did this before having experienced childbirth! So, I knew it would be an extraordinary birth.
Well, they experienced birth last night and this morning. I labored with them through the night in their home–quiet, peaceful, beautiful. They were so affectionate with each other. I sometimes felt like I was eavesdropping. She was quiet through her labor and the emotional cues were simply not there–she remained calm and relaxed the entire time. Her pattern never changed: contractions on the dot every two minutes. Several times I asked if she wanted to go to the hospital (her planned place of birth) and she wanted to wait…and wait…and wait. Finally, I encouraged her we needed to go. It took some coaxing. She was completely dilated when we reached the hospital!
And a very short while later, a new little boy was welcomed to the world.
Ani DiFranco talks about her homebirth.
Quote: “To take birthing out of women’s hands and deny us the continuum of eons of wisdom and experience is to eject us from the very seat of our power.”
but my job here
is not to deliver you
but to hold a mirror
till you see how
Just thinking about God’s grace today. Ho-hum.
Like the repairman who gave me a quote of 1200.00 for unexpected and unavoidable work we have to do at our home. And then the out-of-the-blue check from the tax collector’s office; a refund for misassessed property taxes in the amount of, oh, 1200.00.
Yeah.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
For those of you keeping up with the BPA saga, did you hear the news about Nalgene? My beloved Nalgene has been one of the most tenacious defenders of the safety of Bisphenol-A in their products. Thanks to pressure from Canadian outdoor stores, Canada’s Ministry of Health, consumers, and (of all things) the Today show, Nalgene introduced a new line of BPA-free choices last week. Then, a few days later, issued a press release that they will no longer produce any products with containing BPA. Huge news!
In other BPA news, according to Z Recommends, Walmart Canada has announced it will immediately pull all BPA bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers, food containers, and water bottles from their shelves. Walmart US claims they will phase out BPA bottles (only) by 2009.
No word from the Big Formula on eliminating BPA from formala containers. Surprised?
And once again, the FDA, is ignoring the issue altogether–even in the face of congressional subpoenas.
Oh dear, the EPA, is also under congressional review for its cozy ties to the American Chemistry Council.
Sigh.
My garden is planted! (Thank you, Dad, for your excellent tiller and Mom for the birthday plants). In anticipation of all the fresh salsa I’ll be making with the harvest, I am happily passing along my sister’s salsa recipe. I stopped buying salsa the first day I tried Noelle’s.
Chop up some tomatoes and an onion in a chopper or food processor. I use four medium tomatoes.
Chop up 1/2 or 1 whole jalapeno (depending on your spicy scale), 1 clove of garlic, and fresh cilantro (I’m heavy with the cilantro).
Juice one lime into the mix and add sea salt to taste.
Grab a blue corn tortilla chip and you have some spicy healthiness ready for consumption! Two tips: 1) I get more juice from my lime if I pop it in the microwave for 30 secs before cutting. 2) You can tweak the salsa taste by adding more salt or lime juice.
Grow, tomatoes, grow. And cilantro, and zucchini, and squash, and pepper, and onions, and cucumbers, and oregano, and…
Today, having joined other moms at the monthly Cloth Diapering Group to discuss laundry issues and while sharing a cup of organic green tea with agave nectar with my daughter, I wondered…who is this woman? I once lived off ramen noodles and spent days reading fiction.
Words overheard at the mom’s group: poop, growing so fast, amber teething necklace, child-directed, attachment parenting, meltdown, basal temp, environment, your child escaped, sleep, no, raising our children, bamboo, how often do you wash, discipline, microfiber, love and anger, potty, ovulation, mommy’s milk, babylegs, be gentle, odor, odor-remover, nursed all night, share your toys, see you next month.
My husband asked me last night: Do you ever think of anything except breasts?
I had mentioned that stem cells have been found in breastmilk.
Again, who is this strange woman?
I like her.
We’re lately grooving to Elizabeth Mitchell and Lisa Loeb. Elizabeth Mitchell, beautiful guitarist/ composer/ singer who formed the indie band, Ida, with her hubby, Daniel Littleton, sings the sweetest folk sounds on You Are My Little Bird. With their daughter, Storey, they sing traditional songs as well as covers of Neil Young, Bob Marley, and The Velvet Underground. Elizabeth Mitchell also recorded music with Lisa Loeb (remember her?). Catch the Moon includes the most precious rendition of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” you’ll ever hear as well as a lovely take on Bob Dylan’s “New Morning.” Shhh, I listen to them even when Norah isn’t in the car.
Peter Cottontail brought Norah an interesting little book, A Ride on Mother’s Back. Full of bright illustrations and educational tidbits, this book highlights babywearing around the world. My favorite is the daddy carrying a net of firewood on his back and a net of baby on his front–all hanging from his head. And I’m partial to the grandpa babywearing on a hunting trip in the rainforest! Scott preferred the North American daddy trekking with the backpack carrier.
My friend (she shall remain nameless–it was a secret mission) and I took a little journey to the continent of Ikea where I staked claim to the Bygel series. What an incredibly inexpensive and uber-cool way to create some much-needed kitchen space!
Finally, though I’ve never been a watcher of cooking shows, I have learned so much over at Cookus Interruptus. Mmmm, mmmm, Cynthia has revived my love affair with collard greens.
Inexplicable Ways 